Nature sows her broad fields

Categories: Personification

An examplec of personification of Nature in science writing:

"It should be borne in mind how beautifully pods, capsules, &c., and even the fully expanded heads of the Compositæ close when wetted, as if for the very purpose of carrying the seed safe to land. When landed high up by the tides and waves, and perhaps driven a little inland by the first inshore gale, the pods, &c., will dry, and opening will shed their seed; and these will then be ready for all the many means of dispersal by which Nature sows her broad fields, and which have excited the admiration of every observer. But when the seed is sown in its new home then, as I believe, comes the ordeal; will the old occupants in the great struggle for life allow the new and solitary immigrant room and sustenance?

Charles Darwin (1855) Does sea-water kill seeds? Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette

Read about personification in science texts

There is also a nod towards teleology here, altgohigh Darwin only suggests the adaptendness of plant parts for surviving at sea was only "as if for the very purpose of carrying the seed safe to land"

Read about teleology in science

Read examples of teleological (pseudo)explanations for scientific phenomena

Read about types of pseudo-explanations

Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.